The Beginnings of a Hogwarts Legend
by Shuggie
Summary: Sirius Black enters his first year at Hogwarts and meets James Potter for the first time. Different look at the beginnings of the famous friendship.
1. Chapter 1

Note: OK new story. As planned, this story will only be the Marauders; first year at Hogwarts. Mostly about Sirius and James. Remus becomes more important in later chapters, but there will be little Peter. (I hate peter…in case no one has ever noticed before…)

**Warning: Contains abuse in later chapters. If you don't like, then you don't have to read. **

**Chapter 1**

The Black family sat around their massive dinner table in complete silence. Not that this was abnormal. It was rare that anyone in the Black family ever had even a simple conversation. Sirius sat doing his best to ignore the faces his little brother was making at him. He knew that if he were to even acknowledge them, his mother would yell or hit him. Regulus got away with everything. He was the favorite.

The loud hooting of an owl interrupted the stillness in the old dinning room. A large brown owl flew into the room and circled over Sirius's head a few times before dropping a letter into his awaiting hands. On the front in bright green letters was his name along with his address, exact down to his own room. Mr. Black looked over with a frown and held out his hand. Sirius immediately handed over his letter.

Mr. Black glanced at the cover and said, "Hogwarts."

Across the table, Mrs. Black huffed. "I am amazed he even got in." Sirius lowered his head to hide his facial expression in his long bangs. Across from him, Regulus was snickering. "Sirius," she barked.

Her elder son snapped to attention. "Yes, Mother?"

"You do of course realize that it is imperative that you are in the Slytherin House, correct?"

"Of course, Mother," Sirius answered.

"Why?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"I must be in Slytherin because if I were not, then I would break our long line of tradition. Our family has been in Slytherin since the beginning of Hogwarts," Sirius recited. "Not to mention," he added, "Slytherin is the only worth while house in this part of Europe."

Mrs. Black smiled smugly. "Correct," she said. "Tomorrow Kreacher will go with you to Diagon Alley to purchase your supplies." Sirius bowed his head towards her in understanding.

The next day, shopping was uneventful, minus the few times Sirius got lost. Of course Kreacher, being lost himself, did nothing to help and all the while had the nerve to mutter under his breath about Sirius's intelligence, or as he put it, lack there of. Sirius had finally gotten sick of listening to the house elf recite his mother's opinions of him and commanded him to remain silent for the remainder of the trip.

While at Ollivander's, Sirius ran into the Snape family. He almost frowned with jealousy, but being a Black, he masked it well. Severus, the Snape heir, was Sirius's age and would be a House mate. The Snapes were also from a long line of Slytherins. Most of the old families were. Severus had just found his wand, and his mother was smiling as she took the bag from Mr. Ollivander, and his father was patting him on the back. Sirius's parents thought themselves too good to be seen around so many Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers that they had refused to accompany their son to the large and crowded Alley, despite the fact that he was only ten years old.

Sirius hid his displeasure when Mrs. Snape noticed him and brought her son and husband with her to say hello. The Black heir put up a polite façade. He would be in serious trouble if he was in any way ungentlemanly. High pure-blood society women never kept their mouths shut about anything. Sirius fought back a grimace as he shook hands with Severus. Honestly, he did not see how such a well groomed woman could let her son be so _greasy_. "So you got your letter, too, then," Severus said.

"Of course," Sirius said. "I'm the right age, aren't I?"

The other boy crossed his arms and pointed out, "Just probably the youngest in the class."

Sirius didn't hide his frown. Just because he had a late birthday didn't mean he was incapable or incompetent. He happened to be rather bright, thankyouverymuch. The Snapes soon left the wand shop, and Sirius was finally able to get down to business. It took a good thirty minutes before he got a wand. Thirteen inches, oak, phoenix feather core. Sirius smiled happily as Mr. Ollivander handed him the box containing the new wand. After paying, Sirius quickly walked out of the shop, Kreacher scurrying after him.

"Would Master like—?"

"Shut up, Kreacher," Sirius said as he pocketed his wand. "Do I have everything?" He watched in amusement as Kreacher attempted to read and check from the list while balancing all of Sirius's new school things.

Muttering a bit, Kreacher answered, "Kreacher believes so." He muttered something else under his breath, no doubt about Sirius, but the boy didn't care.

"Go and bring everything back to the manor," Sirius commanded. "I'm going to get an ice cream."

"Mistress will not like that," Kreacher said.

"Well, she's not here to tell me that, now is she? So how can we really know? Now get back home," Sirius snapped as he headed off in the direction of the ice cream shop. He, of course, knew good and well that his mother did not want her children eating such things. She was one some kind of health food kick. Obviously it had been going on for years and years because Sirius had heard his father muttering a few times about "Before we were married—"

When Sirius arrived home later that afternoon, the first person he saw was Regulus. The slightly younger boy looked up from his Quidditch toys and smirked at his older brother. "Some body's in trouble," he said in a sing song voice.

Sirius frowned and was about to yell at him when Mrs. Black came stomping in to the Floo room. "Sirius Julius Black!" she screeched. "Have you lost your mind?"

Sirius stared up at his mother with wide eyes and swallowed hard. "N-no, ma'am."

"Then why, pray tell, did you send Kreacher home before you? And for ICE CREAM?! Someone could have tried to steal Kreacher and sell him or the packages he had!"

Sirius remained silent. It was always better when he just stayed quiet. Mrs. Black hit him over the back of the head and said, "Get up to your room. Some one will send you up supper."

Sirius shut his door quietly behind his and calmly walked over to his bed where he proceeded to beat the daylights out of his pillow. How stupid did she think he was? He knew good and well that it was impossible to steal Kreacher. His mother liked the house elf too much and had placed an Anti-Stealing charm on him. And Kreacher could keep a few packages safe for the short trip from Ollivander's to the Leaky Cauldron.

Sirius grunted and sat down on his large bed holding his previously beaten pillow to his chest. She didn't care at all about what could have happened to him. He could have gotten lost or kidnapped or something, but all she cared about was that stupid house elf. Sirius covered his head with the pillow. She loved it more than she loved him.

Finally it was the first of September. Finally it was time to go to Hogwarts and get away from Grimwauld Place. If Sirius had believed in God, he would have praised Him. Predictably, Sirius's parents were not going to see him off. Unfortunately, his much older cousin Bellatrix would be bringing both him and Narcissa, who was a few months older, to the station. Sirius wished Andromeda could have brought them, but she had been blasted off the family tree just last winter when she ran off with a Muggle-born named Ted Tonks. Sirius had met Ted. He was nice, but unfortunately, in the Black family only Sirius and Narcissa (and her just barely) thought so.

The three high class cousins walked haughtily into the station. Bellatrix was in the lead followed closely by Narcissa, who was cradling her snowy white Persian cat Miss Trista Mary Necia Pouncy Wigglefeet. God, Sirius hated that name, and Narcissa always made everyone say the entire thing. Sirius walked a pace behind Narcissa, currently holding a staring contest with dear Miss Trista Mary Necia Pouncy Wigglefeet, while his large black owl Allecto perched contently on top of his head. Two human servants followed behind pushing the two first years' carts.

Bellatrix quickly dumped them off at the train offering Narcissa a quick good-bye and Sirius a nod of the head. The two children rolled their eyes at the woman's loftiness and went to find a compartment.

They quickly found an empty one and sat down together. Neither would admit it, being Blacks, but both were extremely nervous about being away from home for the first time. Although they would technically know everyone in their House (both were praying for Slytherin, even if only to please their parents), it would be different.

Narcissa placed her cat in the seat next to her and turned her ice colored eyes to her cousin. "Sirius," she asked, "Are you excited?"

"I'm getting away from home, aren't I," he said. Narcissa nodded. "Then there's your answer." The blond girl smiled slightly and shook her head.

"Well, at least we'll both be there together. I don't think I would like to go without someone from the family."

"Well," Sirius said with a frown, "apart from you and 'Dromeda, I think I could stand it." Narcissa bit her lip. She knew just how much Sirius hated the family. She didn't mind her lifestyle much, but since Sirius was one of her favorite relatives she wished he was a bit happier. She liked him so much because of his pranks and silly escapades. Never in her life would she tell him that because she knew he would drag her into them, and she had no wish to be yelled at by his mother.

Sirius himself was glad that Narcissa was on the train ride with him. She, apart from Andromeda, was the only one in the family who would do nothing to stop his pranks. Every time she caught him preparing one, his cousin would observe for a few minutes and walk away to find a safe place to hide. If Regulus ever spotted him, then his mother would be yelling within seconds. Sirius suspected that they had some kind of telepathic link that worked only when occasions that could result in trouble for the elder Black son emerged.

A few minutes into the train ride, the door slid open and a boy who looked their age poked his head in. Narcissa and Sirius stared at him in a critiquing manner. The boy seemed the opposite of the clean, kempt, and proper Black cousins. His black hair was sticking up in every direction imaginable and some that weren't. His glasses had smudges and were askew on his face. He was wearing a wrinkled tee-shirt and pants with grass stains. Sirius saw Narcissa's nose crinkle and knew they were thinking the same thing: Who lets their child out looking like that?

The boy ran and hand through his hair in attempts to calm it, but Sirius thought it did the opposite, and he took off his glasses to clean them. "Do you mind if I sit here? All the other compartments are getting crowded." Sirius and Narcissa shot each other wary glances and scooted further from the door, Narcissa scooping her cat up as she went.

The boy raised a dark brow in confusion but shrugged. "I'm James Potter, by the way," he said. The Black cousins looked back at each other with wide eyes.

"Potter," Narcissa said flatly. Sirius raised his own dark brow at James and asked, "The blood traitor, shame of the wizarding world, Mudblood loving Gryffindor Potters?"

James blinked down at Sirius in shock. Narcissa looked back at her cousin. "Is that what your mother says?" Sirius nodded. "Word for word." Narcissa nodded. "My mother says so, too."

Sirius shrugged. "Well, they are sisters-in-law. They do talk about this sort of thing a lot."

James finally found his voice. "You're Blacks, aren't you?" The other two children looked up at the interrupter of their conversation. "Quite a few families have some things to say about you, too, you know," James retorted.

"Jealousy is most unbecoming," Narcissa said flinging her long blond braid over her shoulder. Sirius just shrugged. Truthfully, he could see nothing to be jealous about. Who would want a dark and nasty family that blasted people off the tree for loving and who only paid attention to their children when—

Sirius thoughts were cut off when James snapped. "Why would I be jealous of a bunch of Slytherins?" Narcissa and James argued for a few more minutes with Sirius just watching. He was finding it very amusing how easily flustered James was while Narcissa looked as though she were only discussing the weather. Obviously, the Potters, although one of the old families, did not put much stock in high class etiquette.

It wasn't long before James stormed out of the compartment and down the hall. Narcissa laughed. "Barely ten minutes on the train and we have gain ourselves an enemy," she said gleefully. Sirius laughed at her attitude and settled down into the seat. He might as well get comfortable. They were in for a long train ride.

After the ride across the lake (which the Black cousins knew of: the Blacks were a practical family, and the silly tales of getting into the school were below them), the first years were gathered in front of the doors to the Great Hall waiting for the deputy headmistress, Professor McGonagall, to lead them inside to be sorted.

Narcissa snorted as she heard someone nearby say something about fighting dragons to be accepted. "Honestly," she whispered to Sirius, "no one has even touched their wands yet. How ridiculous to think that they would have us fight dragons." Sirius nodded in agreement.

Professor McGonagall soon led them in and explained the nature of the Sorting. Narcissa was one of the first to be called up. Sirius gave his cousin's hand a quick squeeze before she made her way up. She sat on the stool, and the hat was lowered onto her head. About ten seconds later it shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" Narcissa smiled as she hopped off the chair and ran to the cheering table. She looked back up at him and held up her crossed fingers as McGonagall said, "Black, Sirius."

Sirius walked up calmly to the stool and sat down. The hat was placed on his head, and he heard a voice say, _"Well now, what have we here? Let's take us a look…Hmmm, you are a hard choice, young man, a very hard choice. Bright, extremely bright, but you are no bookworm. You have an astounding sense of loyalty about you…"_

_'Oh, Christ,' _Sirius thought, _'Not Hufflepuff!'_

_"No Hufflepuff, huh?" _the voice said._ "No, you're right. Helga is not your answer."_

_'No, she's not,' _Sirius thought._ 'But Salazar sure is.'_

_"Slytherin?__ Is that what you want?" _

_'Of course it is. Mother says that—'_

_"Ah! What _Mother_ wants," _the voice noted._ "But what does _Sirius_ want?" _Sirius found that he could not answer that. _"Hmm, one more peek around should do the trick…yes! Yes, I see it now. The perfect House for you is…"_

_'Christ, it's going to say…'_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The Hall was silent. The jaws of every Slytherin and Gryffindor had fallen through the tables. Narcissa looked as though she were about to faint. Sirius felt the hat being removed from his head, and McGonagall, still very shocked, was giving him a slight nudge towards her table.

Sirius, however, spun around to face her. "Professor, can I try the hat on again? Something must be wrong. I _can't_ be a Gryffindor. The hat is wrong."

From the staff table, an old voice spoke. "The Sorting Hat is never wrong, Mr. Black," Headmaster Dumbledore said.

Sirius did his best not to frown at the old man. His mother had some nasty things to say about Hogwarts's headmaster. "But, Professor," Sirius protested, "I'm a Black. We have never been anything other that Slytherin. My cousin just—"

"I know what House Miss Black was just placed in," he said. "Now, if you will please take a seat at the Gryffindor table, we may continue." Sirius was unable to move. Dumbledore raised a brow and said, "Perhaps the Sorting Hat knows something about you that you yourself do not. It is this that makes you a Gryffindor. Now please, sit."

Sirius blindly made his way over to the red and gold clad table. He plopped down in the seat and looked over the Hall at Narcissa, who was staring back at him sadly. In a very un-Black like manner, Sirius slammed his head on the table and threw his arms over his head.

Sirius barely registered the rest of the Sorting, but he did distinctly hear the hat put "Potter, James," into "GRYFFINDOR!" very quickly. Sirius let out a loud groan as the others around him cheered. Sensing motion across from him, Sirius saw through a crack in his arms that James was sitting in front of him.

After Dumbledore had given a short speech, the food appeared. Sirius idly picked at his food. He felt that if he ate anything, it would be coming back up for a visit shortly. Sirius glanced up through his bangs and saw that James was staring at him with a smug smile. "So," he said, "how's it feel to be a Gryffindor."

Sirius lifted his head and gave James his iciest glare. "You know something, Potter," Sirius said in a strained voice, "I'm kind of in an extremely troubled state of mind right now. You have no idea what my parents will do to me when they learn of this, so I would appreciate it if you could back off."

James raised a brow. "You deserve it," he said before turning his attentions back to his food.

Woohoo! James and Sirius don't like each other right now, hee hee.

Please review! Reviews make me update more often.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

Sirius sat at breakfast staring up in fear at the ceiling. The owls would be coming soon with the post. For his sake, Narcissa had forced him to sit at the end of the Slytherin table with her. She grabbed onto his hand as the owls swooped in the Great Hall. Both immediately recognized the Black family owl. The dark feathered bird soared down carrying a blood-red envelop. The bird gave a sharp peck at Sirius's ear before taking off again. Sirius frowned after it. Even the bird hated him.

Sirius turned his attention back to the shaking letter. "Just do it, Siri," Narcissa said. "It'll be better if you just do it now." Sirius nodded numbly and complied. With unsteady fingers, he ripped the seal open and the letter shook to life.

If Sirius thought his mother was loud in real life, it was nothing compared to her voice magically magnified.

"SIRIUS JULIUS BLACK! YOU MISERABLE CHILD! YOU BLOOD-TRAITOR!" the letter thundered. "HOW DARE YOU NOT BE PLACED IN THE GREAT SLYTHERIN HOUSE! AND FOR GOD'S SAKE, YOU'RE IN GRYFFINDOR! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW FURIOUS YOUR FATHER AND I ARE WITH YOU. EVEN YOUNG REGULUS IS EMBARRASSED! YOU HAVE SHAMED THE WHOLE FAMILY! I WILL DISCUSS THIS FURTHER WITH YOU DURING CHRISTMAS BREAK. PREPARE YOURSELF!"

The letter blew a strawberry at Sirius and erupted in a ball of flames. The Hall was silent, and teacher and students alike stared at the Black cousins, both of whom looked a bit wind blown.

A few seconds passed before the Hall began to buzz with life again. Sirius grabbed at his silky hair and began to pull. "Shit!" he cursed. "'Cissa, I am so dead! She's going to kill me."

Narcissa placed a hand on his shoulder and said uneasily, "Come on now, cousin. She's mad, yes, but by Christmas she'll have cooled down, and you'll just get yelled at for a bit. But that's nothing new."

Sirius wished he could believe Narcissa, but she didn't know.

The closer the end of the term came, the more nervous Sirius was. By now, November had begun, which gave him only about a month before he had to go back home and face his parents. Sirius sighed as he walked back from the library. He was not looking forward to it.

Sirius kicked at the floor. This was not how he had wanted his life at Hogwarts to be. He was supposed to be in Slytherin, the top of his class, have numerous friends/minions, and having to time of his life. So far he only had the top of his class going for him. The Gryffindors in his year didn't like him, most feared him because he was a Black, and the Slytherins thought he was a traitor. The only person in the school who seemed to care at all was Narcissa, but even she was getting more caught up in spending time with her Slytherins girl friends than her cousin.

Sirius stalked thorough the corridors, his boots not making a sound on the stone floor. He turned a corner and came face to face with James Potter. The other boy froze like a deer in the headlights of a car. Sirius recognized that face. Potter was up to something. Sirius glanced over his shoulder and saw that James was preparing some kind of prank.

By the look of things, he was trying to bewitch the suits of armor to dance. Sirius raised a brow as he surveyed the work thus far. James had his fists clenched and was muttering under his breath about being busted.

Sirius gave the armor one last look before saying, "Your wand motion's wrong. The circle should be counter-clockwise. And you'd better hurry up. I saw McGonagall a few minutes ago," and walking off.

James stared after the other boy with wide eyes. Had Black just…helped him?

James came into the dorms fifteen minutes later to find only Sirius inside. Then he remembered that Peter had detention for blowing up his cauldron, and Remus was ill. Sirius was lying on his bed reading a piece of parchment. James sat down on his bed, which was on the other side of the door from Sirius's, and stared at the other raven haired boy.

Sirius knew James was staring at him, but continued to read his letter from Andromeda telling him about her wedding with Ted. None of the Black family members had gone.

Finally James asked, "Why did you help me?" Sirius only shrugged in reply. James continued, "I mean, it's not like I've been nice to you, and we don't exactly like each other—"

Sirius cut him off saying, "Truthfully, I have no problem with you, James."

James's mouth was still open as if he were about to say something. He blinked at Sirius a few times before asking, "Come again?"

Sirius calmly folded the letter and sat up. He turned his ice colored eyes to James and repeated, "I don't have any problem with you. What I said on the train was just something my mother always says."

James raised a brow. "You repeat everything your mother says without thinking?"

Sirius frowned. "It's all I know."

James brought his legs up on his bed in Indian fashion. "So why don't you just form your own opinions?"

"Have you ever been around any of the old Slytherin families?" Sirius asked staring off at nothing.

"No," James answered simply.

"Then you can't understand how it is," Sirius said. James frowned. "Care to explain?"

Sirius looked back over at him strangely. After a few seconds, he answered, "I don't know where I could even begin."

James looked confused but silently resolved to ask his parents about it when he went home for Christmas. The boys were silent for a few minutes before James smiled and jumped off his bed. He made his way over to Sirius and said, "I've got a great idea. Let's start over."

Sirius raised a confused brow at the hand James was offering him. "My name's James Potter. What's yours?"

Sirius stared for a few minutes before a small smile broke out on his face. "I'm Sirius Black." The boys shook hands and laughed. "So," Sirius asked, "You like to pull pranks?" A huge smile broke out on James's face.

"Oh, Sirius," he said. "Me thinks this begins a beautiful friendship."

Sirius gulped as he entered the Black Manor. He was back here again. Back here with the dark magic, snooty relatives, and angry parents. He knew that the other boys in his dorm were probably enjoying warm reunions with their families. He had seen James meet his parents at the station. They had hugged him. Sirius's parents had never hugged him before.

Before Sirius could think further on the subject, his parents and Narcissa's walked into the entry hall. Sirius's aunt and uncle motioned for a house elf to take Narcissa's trunk up to her assigned room and walked away with their daughter following. The second they were out of sight, Mr. Black grabbed Sirius's wrist and began to drag him off towards his office. Mrs. Black slammed the door behind them as Mr. Black flung the boy in the middle of the room before casting a Locking and Silencing Charm.

Mrs. Black stormed over and slapped Sirius across the face so quickly he barely had time to attempt to brace himself. Sirius fell back onto his bottom, but knew better than to cry out or touch his cheek. "Blood-traitor! What were you thinking?" Mrs. Black screeched. "How dare you become a Gryffindor?"

"I-I didn't m-mean to, Mother," Sirius stammered. The angry woman yanked Sirius up by his hair.

"Did I say you could speak," she yelled. She tossed him back down and commanded, "Now, explain yourself."

"T-the hat," Sirius tried, "I told it I wanted Slytherin, but it put me in Gryffindor anyways! Dumbledore wouldn't let me try it again."

"So why did you not tell us of this," Mr. Black asked in a dead tone.

Sirius bit his lip. How could he have? "W-well, I got the-the Howler the next morning. I-I didn't have time. How could I have?"

Mrs. Black screeched indignantly, and Mr. Black jerked Sirius up by the neck. "How dare you speak to your mother and I in that manner, you pathetic child?" He punched Sirius in the stomach. The young boy fell to the ground in pain where his mother kicked at him with her heeled shoes.

"A filthy Gryffindor!" she cried. "Could you have possibly shamed the family more? You worthless little bastard!" Her heel slammed into Sirius's left wrist, and a loud crack was heard. But Sirius knew she wouldn't stop kicking. It had never stopped her before.

Finally ten minutes later Mr. Black lifted the charms on the office while his wife picked up Sirius by his robes and flung him towards the door. She growled, "Get to your room, and don't dare come out until Kreacher comes for you."

Slowly and painfully, Sirius limped towards his room. He made it up with only Regulus seeing him, but that wasn't unusual. Regulus knew all about it. Sirius silently shut the door behind him before falling to the ground. He couldn't even manage to crawl over to his bed or reach under it where he had hidden some bandages and small healing potions.

For some reason this beating was worse than the others before it, or at least the ones he remembered. It had to be because he went so long without one. September to December was a long time, the longest by far he had ever gone. He should have known better. He should have done something to keep his body from becoming used to health. His last thought before falling out of conscious thought was to ask a seventh year to beat him up.

Sirius guessed it was the next morning when he awoke. After a good ten minutes of trying, Sirius was finally able to pull himself up and over to his bed. He crawled under and lifted his loose board. He pulled out a small roll of bandages and pulled himself over to his private bathroom.

Slowly and carefully Sirius shed his clothing and turned the knobs to draw a warm bath. He looked down at his wrist. It was swollen at least twice its normal size and was black and blue. Sirius tried to move it and winced. He guessed it was broken or at least fractured. Good thing it was his left hand. He could hide it that way.

After his bath, Sirius slowly wrapped up his wrist. Then he limped into his room and put on a fresh pair of black pants and a loose white blouse shirt. The sleeves were long and loose and would easily cover up his bandaged wrist.

Sirius sat down on his four poster bed and sighed. He wouldn't cry; he knew that. He had cried all his tears over this years ago, plus he had learned a hard lesson about crying. He wasn't given any food that day, and when he did get it the next day, it was just a sandwich and a glass of water slid under his door compartment (built just for him on occasions such as this, he thought bitterly). Sirius ate it slowly knowing that it would probably be all he had for that day as well.

Sirius looked out his tinted window. He missed Hogwarts. He wanted to go back. He wanted to see James again. With James at Hogwarts, he was safe. No one there wanted to hurt him like his parents did. Once he and James had teamed up and began to pull pranks, the two of them had become quite popular among the first three years. Even a few upperclassmen had congratulated them on well pulled stunts.

Sirius had liked that feeling. He liked it when people praised him. But then, he came home, and Mother reminded him that he was worthless. He felt ashamed that he had forgotten. According to Mother, he was stupid, slow, and a disgrace. It had been foolish of him to let compliments go to his head. It only made his crash back to reality hurt more.

It was three days before Sirius was allowed out of his room. No one seemed to have missed his presence much, but that was to be expected seeing as how they never did. Sirius wondered if they even noticed. Narcissa at least offered him a small smile before turning her attention back to her older sister.

By Christmas Eve, the entire Black family had gathered at 12 Grimwauld Place, and like always, Sirius felt even more lost around his vast family. _Family, ha.__ We're more like a bloody tribe._ Sirius barely ate at the family dinner, mainly because his parents had limited the food he was allowed. It was always like that after he was punished.

To further his punishment, he was not allowed to participate in the traditional opening of one present. He was forced to sit and watch while the whole family each opened one present. Sirius sighed and looked over at his pile sadly. It was by far the smallest one. _At least my pile will seem a little bigger tomorrow._

Christmas morning was by far the worst day of the year for Sirius. Always he had the least presents, and as such, he was always forced to sit and watch as even the adults took longer than him to open gifts.

In past years, Sirius had always only felt sad and ashamed as he watched. Before he had felt like he deserved such, because that was what his mother always said.

But for some reason, this year he was furious. Why should they all get more than him? What exactly about Sirius made him so worthless? He had always done exactly what his parents demanded of him, but it had never been enough. Why?

A loud bang sounded as one of the decorative vases in the room exploded. The women and children screamed. Some of the men with quicker reflexes shielded their wives or children.

Mr. and Mrs. Black turned their furious eyes to Sirius, who was sitting perfectly still with a frown and a line of blood trailing down his cheek where a shard of pottery had hit. "Sirius!" Mrs. Black growled. "What was that for?"

Sirius's logical grandmother huffed at her daughter, "The boy isn't allowed to do magic away from school, Prisa. Obviously it wasn't done on purpose. It's not like he's that powerful."

Sirius took a few deep breaths to calm himself. Why did they all hate him?

"Go to your room," his father said softly.

Sirius immediately stood and replied, "Glad to," before storming out of the parlor and up the stairs. He slammed his door and threw himself on his bed. He knew he would get another beating for his behavior, but for some reason, he didn't care right now.

When it was finally the morning he would leave, Sirius was nearly dancing around his room for joy. He couldn't wait to get back to James and Hogwarts. As he was packing his trunk, a sly little voice that sounded oddly like James asked, _"You're going to let them get away with how they treat you? You should take revenge." _

Sirius stopped loading and blinked. What was he thinking? He would never get away with pulling a prank on his family. They would murder him.

_"Who cares?" _the voice urged. _"Show me some backbone, mate!" _

Sirius still felt a bit of the fury from Christmas morning and began to smile evilly. Yes, he was indeed feeling a bit rebellious this morning. Perhaps Mother would enjoy it if all her toilets became fountains. He could set that up easily without a wand.

"Hey, Sirius!" James beamed as he and Remus Lupin walked into the dorm room. "I didn't see you on the train. Where were you? And where did you get that cut?"

Sirius looked up from his trunk and smiled. "I was sitting with my cousin. Sorry, guys." James shrugged it off and flung himself on his bed. Sirius continued, "I broke a vase and one of the pieces hit my face. No big."

Remus walked over to his bed more calmly than James and said, "You weren't at dinner either. Did you come straight up here?"

"Yeah," Sirius answered. "I was tired and figured I'd unload my trunk before hitting the hay."

James sat up and raised a brow at his friend. "You've been unloading your trunk this whole time? What all do you have in there?"

Sirius laughed but inwardly grimaced. He was moving so slow because one of his arms was unusable. But he couldn't tell his friends that because they would ask how. He didn't want to make up a load of lies to them, but he would never tell the truth.

James quickly forgot it and was soon grinning like a maniac. "So I thought up some great pranks over break," he began.

OK! Everybody please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Cascadingmagic: I'm glad you liked the chapter so much. Yes, they are a nasty, evil family. And you're right. It is a raspberry! I always get those two mixed up, and I guess I just missed it when I re-read what I had written. Props to you! Yay!

Monika Batch: I hope you got the e-mail! ****

**Chapter 3**

As the term progressed, James's influence, Sirius's love for pranks, and his repressed rebellious nature began to severely dictate James and Sirius's behavior. "Are you sure we're allowed to do this," James asked his partner in crime as they hid in the bushes by Hagrid's hut.

"Are you going to let that stop you," Sirius asked.

"Good point," James noted. The two remained huddled in the bush for another hour before the light in Hagrid's window went out.

"Finally," Sirius grumbled standing up and dusting off his shirt and pants. "Let's go." A few Silencing and Floating charms later, Sirius and James were making their way back up the trail to the castle, a number of inflated horklumps trailing in the air behind them.

The twin terrors silently made their way through the castle halls until they came upon the Care of Magical Creatures indoor classroom, where they would be having class first thing the next morning. The two flicked their wands and the inflated creatures floated into the classroom. Sirius muttered a spell, and the now nearly circular beings began to float around of their own accord up by the ceiling.

"Mission accomplished," Sirius smirked as he shut the door behind them. From a distance, the boys heard the clicking of heels and took off silently as possible for their dorm.

The next morning Sirius and James silently congratulated themselves as Professor Kettleburn wailed while trying to chase down the inflated horklumps. "Competency level: negative," Sirius joked.

"I knew you two had something to do with this," Remus said in a scolding tone, but Sirius did not fail to notice the small smile on his dorm-mate's face and felt the need to point it out.

"Perhaps," Sirius said lazily, "but I guess we're not the only ones who find it amusing."

James then noticed Remus's smile, and he whooped in triumph. Remus chuckled and said, "I guess not."

James and Sirius shook hands in success, but their victory was short lived. "Black! Potter!" Kettleburn yelled. "You two are coming with me to the Headmaster's office." James and Sirius's mouths dropped.

Despite all their pranks, they had yet to actually be sent to Professor Dumbledore. "Ms. Evans," the professor said. "I want you to watch the class." Lily beamed and shot a smug smirk at the retreating boys.

Sirius and James followed the angry professor silently through the halls. Finally, they came upon a stone gargoyle. Kettleburn clearly said, "Frizzing Whissbees." Then, the gargoyle jumped aside to reveal a spiral staircase.

James gaped at it for a moment, and Sirius whispered to him, "My father's study does that too." Kettleburn continued to lead the boys up the staircase. He knocked on the door and forcefully pointed ahead of him.

"Come in," a voice said, and the door opened. The boys walked the Walk of Shame in, but as soon as Sirius saw Dumbledore raise a questioning brow at him, Sirius stood up straight, pointed at Dumbledore and thundered, "You can't prove a thing, dude!"

The jaws belonging to James and Professor Kettleburn dropped to a level somewhere near the ground, and Dumbledore continued to stare at Sirius, blinking every few seconds. Sirius held his position and his firm frown. Suddenly, the headmaster began to chuckle.

This caused James to laugh and Kettleburn's jaw to finally meet the floor. Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and said with a smile, "I must say, Mr. Black, I have never in my many, many years of teaching had a student report to me like that."

Kettleburn turned on Sirius and immediately reprimanded him. Sirius, however, waved him off seeing as Dumbledore was still laughing. "Now," Dumbledore said, his smile still lingering, "What's all this about?"

James and Sirius walked out of the office with only one detention, of which both were quite proud. "I say we go irritate another teacher," Sirius offered.

"I'm game," James laughed. "But it needs to be something totally impromptu. We don't have enough time to plane something out, and I think we should get something done in the Great Hall. We've never done that before."

"You speak many truths, my friend," Sirius said. "At lunch, then?"

"At lunch, Sirius."

Lunch that day in the Great Hall was, for some odd reason, very slow and boring. The school bells did not seem to want to ring, and many of the students were getting restless. James and Sirius sat beside each other staring off at some unknown object. Both looked as though they were about to fall asleep.

James was tapping his fingers to an unknown beat, and Sirius was absentmindedly spinning his fork around. At one point Sirius accidentally knocked the fork in James's direction. The other boy stopped his drumming and looked down.

Suddenly his face lightened up, and he grabbed his butter knife. He quickly shoved it up under Sirius's nose. With a smirk, he said, "Draw, ye olde villain!"

Sirius laughed heartily and said, "Draw! Ha, I will give you the honor of a quick and painless death!" He grabbed at the closest piece of silverware and held it up in James's face. James raised a dark brow at the spoon in front of him. Sirius drew a deep breath and said, "Yeeeaahhhh. But not with that." He looked down and saw his knife. "Wa HA!" he cried and brought it up to clash with James's.

It took barely a minute for the mock butter knife battle to develop into an all out war. Sirius jumped up on the table and transfigured the knife into a plastic sword, James following in suit. James hopped up on the table after Sirius and began to chase his friend up and down it.

Plates and goblets magically flew out of the way, and the other Gryffindors cried out in shock as the two bold first years shuffled past. "Whoa," James cried as he ducked a swing from Sirius. "Sirius, you're good at this."

The plastic swords met and Sirius smirked. "Perhaps you should not have challenged me, Villain. I've been trained at fencing since I was five."

"Are you serious," James asked, and as soon as Sirius began to laugh, he realized his mistake. "Oh my God," he muttered, but then noticed Sirius had let his guard down. James took a swing, but Sirius gracefully flipped out of the way.

"Not to mention Martial Arts, which involves gymnastics," Sirius gloated.

"Well, Your Majesty," James replied mockingly, "I might not have all that, but can you street fight?"

Sirius laughed as James very ungracefully charged swinging like mad. By now students from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables had ventured over and were cheering the two boys on. From behind James, Sirius could see a few teachers trying to make their way through the students to stop then, but seeing as how Dumbledore was reclining back and watching them with great amusement, Sirius gave himself props and jumped over James's head, catching the other boy by surprise.

Sirius poked James in the back. "Give up?"

"Never!" James cried dramatically.

"You asked for it," Sirius shrugged and shoved the plastic sword under James's arm. James preformed a brilliant death scene, and Sirius put on foot on the fallen boy's chest and held his sword over his head. "Victory!"

The crowd cheered and Sirius took a bow. James revived himself to share in the bow just as McGonagall arrived. "Down," she hissed. "And follow me." Sirius and James high fived and jumped down off the table and walked after the deputy headmistress towards the doors.

They stopped short just before exiting and yelled out, "Thanks you, thank you, ladies and gentlemen! We're here on Tuesdays." McGonagall reached back into the Hall and pulled the two boys out by the back of their robes.

Yay, a new update! I'm sorry this is such a short chapter, but I wanted it to only be a light, joking kind of one since the last one had some heavy stuff in it. It turned out shorter than I meant, but I think the next one should be longer. So review and it will get out faster!


	4. Chapter 4

Okkie dokkies ya'll! I finally updated.

**Misthea** I'm glad you liked the sword fight. In the course of this story (which only takes place during the Marauders' first year) James will NOT know about Sirius's home-life. I wouldn't have him know until about sixth year when Sirius runs away. Sorry dude. And yes, James did ask his parents about all that, but because this story centers on Sirius, I don't go into James's thoughts. Kinda like how JK doesn't go into Ron's or Hermione's, ya know? And I know the gymnastics bit was overdone, but oh well. It made it more fun. And I don't hate you for saying it. Feel free to say anything you want! Thanks for your review.

**To Lazy to Log:** Sorry, they don't find out about Sirius. But never fear: Remus is starting to become more important!

**Felcia** Glad you like. I read the story, hope you got the review.

**Cascadingmagic** The raspberry thing still has me laughing. I like your mental fruit image. Glad you like and thanks for the review.

**Lily-james12, Celebrean, Yoshimiwolfspaw, Hermione12, justarandomperson, lilroxyn03:** thanks so much for the reviews, guys. Keep 'em coming. **  
  
**

**Chapter 4**

Easter break approached them quickly. About a week before they got off, James dropped into his usual seat next to Sirius at the Gryffindor table. "I've got a thought here," James said.

From across the table, Lily Evans snorted. She was a firm believer that James and Sirius were the biggest idiots in the world. She hated James with a passion that he returned, but she didn't seem to mind Sirius too much, which Remus pointed out to be near hypocrisy.

"Shut up, Evans," James said without a glance in her direction. "I was thinking that maybe you could come over to my house for Easter break. That is if your parents don't want you home."

_'Only to take their misery out on me,'_ Sirius thought. Aloud, he said, "Sounds great, mate. I'll write to them tonight." For his sake, Sirius hoped they'd say yes.

Two days later, Sirius received his reply. Sirius was just thankful it wasn't a Howler again. James looked over his friend's shoulder and frowned. "Sirius," he said slowly, "there aren't any words on that parchment."

"Yes there are," Sirius explained. "It's a simple charm my parents put on all their letters. I'm the only person who can read it."

Yes, his parents did use the charm on all their letters, but it was imperative that they do it for any written to Sirius.

_'Sirius,_

_You worthless little whelp. You have a lot of nerve to ask something like this of us. For a Black to be seen with a Potter!? Appalling! I had thought that you could shame us no further, but you, my dear little failure, have found a way. Next thing we know, you'll want to be an Auror! Go to the Potter boy's for Easter, but so help me, you will pay for it when you get home. And don't think you can escape it by staying at Hogwarts or coming home. No matter what you will be severely punished. _

_Prisa__ Black'_

Sirius inwardly winced. To say the least, she was extremely mad. But if he was going to get beaten no matter what he did, then he was definitely going to James's house. After all, he had always been curious what other families were like.

"So," James asked impatiently, "what did they say?"

"Don't wet yourself, James," Sirius laughed pushing the other boy away from him. "They said it was fine."

"Sweet," James said in a high pitched voice.

Sirius stared in awe at James's house at Godric's Hollow. It was so like and unlike his own. The house was large, almost as large as the one at Grimwauld Place, old, and had probably been in the Potter family for generations. But James's house was, in a word, cheerful. No eerie, dark shadow loomed over it, and it was not likely that it was barely lit and decorated with silver snakes and house elf heads.

"Come on, Sirius," James called over his shoulder. Sirius jerked out of his trance and ran to catch up with James. Mr. Potter was already inside with the trunks. He politely wiped his feet off while James ran inside tracking mud.

"Well," a female voice said, "if anything, at least young Mr. Black has better manners than James."

"Mum!" Sirius looked up to see James fling himself at a short brown haired woman. Her hazel eyes filled with laughter as she hugged her son. Sirius would not have known, but she was very motherly.

Sirius walked up and bowed slightly at the waist to the woman. "Hello, Mrs. Potter. I'm Sirius Black, and I would like to thank you for inviting me to stay over the break."

Mrs. Potter blinked at him for a few seconds before laughing. "Sirius, dear," she said warmly, "none of that is necessary. As you can see from my son (she jerked her thumb at James, who was smiling madly) we don't put much stock in all that."

Sirius smiled shyly and shook the hand she stuck out. "And you can call me Kaelin," she said. "Mrs. Potter makes me feel old."

"You are old, Mum," James joked.

"Hey," both parents protested. Jacob Potter continued, "I've got three years on your mother. If she's old, then what does that make me?"

James pretended to think. "Ancient," he tried. Mr. Potter grabbed James and began to ruffle up his son's already messy hair. James cried out and wriggled out of his father's grasp, grabbed Sirius's wrist and bolted up the stair for his room.

James jumped up on his bed, and Sirius stayed near the door. "Wow," he said.

"Wow what," James asked.

"Your parents," Sirius clarified. "They're really nice."

James shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

Sirius looked longingly out the door. "That must be nice," he said softly. James stopped bouncing and looked at Sirius strangely until the other boy quickly commented about the woods behind the house.

Later that night, Sirius lay in the bed that had been set up for him in James's room. James had fallen asleep immediately after his parents had left the room, but Sirius found he could not sleep. James's parents had come into the room to make sure both boys were comfortable and to say good night.

Sirius had never had anyone say good night to him before. The warmth that radiated off the Potter family made Sirius want to break down and cry in self pity. Sirius glanced at James's sleeping form across the room. The other boy didn't know hoe lucky he was. He'd never know.

The next morning, Sirius awoke a seven o'clock sharp. James was still asleep, of course. James always slept until the last possible minute, where as Sirius, by force of habit, brought on by his parents, of course, was an early bird. Because it was a weekend, Sirius knew nothing would get James out of bed until at least 11:30, but there was no way he could just sit there for over four hours, and he'd never get back to sleep.

After a few minutes, Sirius decided to go downstairs. He only hoped James's parents were awake, too. He had no wish to wander about their house alone. Sirius silently dressed in his usually black pants and white shirt and slipped on his boots before creeping down the stairs.

He saw a warm light coming from down the hall and heard voices. Sirius shyly poked his head in the doorway and saw Mr. and Mrs. Potter sitting at the table, still in their dressing-gowns sipping coffee and munching on toast.

"No big breakfast, dear," Mr. Potter was teasing.

His wife snorted. "And waste all that food," she asked. "I'll just make a brunch. The boys won't be up for hours. You know how James is, and I'm sure Sirius is just the same. Boys will be boys."

"Is that a bad thing," he joked.

Mrs. Potter tapped her chin. "I'm still in debate—Sirius!" She noticed the small black head poking out from the hall. "Dear, what are you doing up so early?" She stood and walked over to the door. "And why are you just hanging out in the hall? Come in. Look at that, Jacob! He's already dressed, too."

"I didn't want to interrupt," he said politely.

Mr. Potter laughed loudly. "Just like James, huh?" Mrs. Potter frowned at him. "Are you hungry, sweetie," she asked him.

Sirius shook his head, "No, ma'am. I'll just wait for that brunch when James wakes up."

"Nonsense!" she said practically pushing him into a chair in her hurry to get to the pans in the kitchen. "You don't need to wait for James. He'll just have the brunch, and I'll make you something extra for lunch."

"You really don't have to, Mrs. Potter," Sirius said slightly uncomfortably.

"Come now, dear," she said cracking eggs. "You're skinnier than James is, and what did I tell you about that Mrs. Potter rubbish. Kaelin, please." Sirius nodded as Mr. Potter placed a cold cup of orange juice in front of him.

"I find that it's best just to agree with her," he said with a smile. "Everything is easier that way."

It wasn't long before Mrs. Potter had placed a feast before Sirius. There was no way he could eat all this. He was, however, glad to notice that the two adults had also grabbed plates and silverware for themselves. Sirius, in the end, was not able to eat near the amount of food Mrs. Potter had expected.

"That's all you want, dear," she asked worriedly when Sirius set down his fork.

"Yes, Mrs. Pot—I mean, Mrs. Kaelin," Sirius answered. "I'm full. I never eat much for breakfast, anyway." Sirius's parents had never fed their elder son much, and as such he was used to going on little. He would never have the kind of appetite that James had. James Potter could eat at a steady, shoveling pace for over an hour.

"If you're sure," Kaelin said uneasily, but left the boy alone.

After breakfast was done, Jacob insisted on entertaining Sirius until James woke up, and Kaelin wandered about the house, cleaning as she saw fit. Sirius found this to be very strange and could not stop himself from asking why she cleaned herself. Surely they were rich enough to have a house elf.

Kaelin smiled and said, "We used to have one, but we sold it years ago so James wouldn't kill it." Sirius's eyes widened and Kaelin explained, "When James was younger, he liked to play with the house elf, but he was a bit rough. He didn't know any better, but he almost killed the poor thing, so we sold it to keep it alive. I don't mind cleaning. It gives me something to do with James gone."

Every second Sirius spent in the Potter's house he learned something new and, to him, exciting. The Potters had absolutely nothing in common with his family. They did things so differently. He played chess with Jacob and laughed trough most of it. He had never laughed with an adult before.

Finally James came clamoring down the stairs at nearly noon, still in his pajamas. He blinked groggily at his father and Sirius, who was laughing at some story Jacob was telling. "H-how long have yo-ou been up," James asked around a yawn as he walked up to the pair.

"Since seven," Sirius answered.

Well, that woke James up pretty quick. "SEVEN!" he cried. "Sirius, mate, what's wrong with you? We're on holiday!"

Jacob laughed at his son's indignation while Sirius said, "I always get up at seven."

"Weird," James muttered as he made his way into the kitchen, Sirius and Jacob following. Kaelin had heard her son and had already begun to prepare his brunch and everyone else's lunch.

Over lunch/brunch, Sirius and James made plans to go wandering around the woods behind the house. After a long lecture about safety from Kaelin, the boys were off and did not return until it was nearly dark.

Kaelin and Jacob were relaxing on the back porch with a pitcher of lemonade when they saw the boys make their way up the back yard. Both were soaked from head to toe and were covered in mud, dirt, and leaves. Kaelin shrieked. "Look at the state of you two!"

Both boys offered her identical grins, their pearly whites contrasting greatly with the brown mud coating their faces. "Get a hose," she cried.

Sirius raised a brow. "What's a hose?" he asked.

"It's some kind of Muggle device," James said. "It shoots out water. Mum likes to use Muggle terms." James looked as though he were going to say something further, but he was met with a stream of water from Jacob's wand. He laughed and ran off, his father giving chase.

Sirius blinked as Kaelin marched up to him, her wand raised. His ice colored eyes flickered over to James and Jacob. "Don't even think about it," Kaelin warned. Sirius smirked and tore away from the woman. "Sirius!" she cried giving chase.

James and Sirius weaved their way through the yard. Finally, Jacob tackled James to the ground and when Sirius slowed to see if his fallen friend was all right, Kaelin grabbed him around the middle and carried him over to her husband and son. Sirius frowned as he wiggled in her grasp. The ten year old did not know exactly what he felt like right now, but dignified was not it.

"Light weight," Kaelin chuckled as she dropped him by James. Jacob held the boys down while Kaelin finished watering them down. Then, Jacob picked up the dripping boys and threw them over his shoulders and carried them inside.

"All right," Kaelin said, clapping her hands together for attention. "Everyone is to go and shower thoroughly and then come down for dinner. Boys, you're both still filthy. Twenty minutes each."

"Aw, Mum," James protested.

"James Potter, march!" Kaelin pointed forcefully at the stair case. "You, too, Sirius." Sirius smiled and followed James up the stairs.

The next day was Easter Sunday, and for the first time in his life, Sirius was brought to church. He had never seen anything like it. The building was amazing and the people seemed very devoted to the cause. Sirius found the Gospels very interesting but felt very stupid during the Eucharist. He had no idea what to do, so he stayed behind in the pews, besides, he wasn't Baptized.

On the way home from the church, while the Potters talked, Sirius pondered this religion concept. He was very confused by it all. If this God was so good, then why was Sirius's life so miserable? Wait, Sirius took that back. His life was only miserable when he wasn't around James. Still, this was supposedly a God of love, so why did He find it necessary to give Sirius parents who hated him?

By the time the four returned to Godric's Hollow, Sirius's brain was hurting, and he was feeling depressed, so he decided it was best if he didn't give religion a second thought.

On Tuesday morning, Sirius and James finished packing their trunks to return to Hogwarts. James was indifferent, but Sirius was extremely sad. He loved everything about James's house and parents. He never wanted to leave. "Come on, boys! Let's go!"

It wasn't long before the four were offering each other parting fare-wells. Kaelin knelt down and hugged Sirius. "It was absolutely wonderful having you over, Sirius dear," she said. Sirius was stiff in her arms for a few seconds before relaxing and hugging back.

"It was the best time I've ever had," he answered truthfully.

Jacob shook his hand firmly. "Don't be a stranger," he laughed. "You're welcome anytime." As James and Sirius boarded the train, the Black heir wished he really could go back to James's anytime.


	5. Chapter 5

HOLY POOP! Guess what? I updated. That hasn't happened in like ten years. I'm very sorry everyone, but school is a MOSTER! I finally found some break time to work on this and I got a chapter out of it plus most of the last chapter, which is the next one. It's coming to an end guys.

**Brenngt14: **I'm sorry James doesn't find out in this story! I don't want him having to deal with that until he's older, and I just can't imagine that Sirius would tell him about it. I mean, his own cousin doesn't even know, and I made them to be pretty friendly to each other.

**Mentallyinsane188:** Glad you like.

**Hermione21:** Hello again! It makes _you_ sad! I'm writing it. tears

**Cascadingmagic** You can say it's wonderful as much as you like! J Ummm…I wasn't planning on writing a sixth year fic, but if enough people wanted it, I could do it.

**Magma Rose:** You really added it to your favs? Oh thank you so much! And what do I do for you, I make you wait for the next chapter. Bad Mina, BAD! Well, I hope this one's good.

**Celebrean** I'm glad I made you feel better in your time of aliment. Hopefully your better by now, considering it's been like two months, I'm sure you are. I hope this one makes you happy too!

**Shadow929:** Like Remus a bit? Me too! He's so precious. Too bad I can never write a good story about him. Well, this chapter a bit of Sirius pondering Remus. I just didn't imagine them being such fast friends, and if it took Sirius and James until November to like each other, it should take Sirius and Remus a bit longer.

**Well, on with the show!**

**Chapter 5**

Sirius slammed his Herbology book shut and declared, "That's it! I'm sick of studying."

Lily looked up at him from across the table. "But Sirius," she protested, "we've only been sitting here for fifteen minutes."

Sirius nodded. "I know, and I'm bored as Hell."

"_Sirius_!"

James rolled his eyes from his seat next to Sirius. "Oh, get over it Evans," he drawled. "Little goodie two shoes."

"No one asked your opinions, Potter," she snapped back.

James leaned back in his seat and smirked. "It's hard for me to have opinions when I'm right all the time. So really, it's more like I'm spouting off facts."

"You are so bigheaded," Lily yelled. "I'm amazed you can walk properly. How in God's name do you get such good grades? What cheating spells are you using?"

"Hey," James said offended, "I don't cheat." Sirius and Peter watched the exchange like one would watch a tennis match until Remus suddenly yelled, "SHUT UP!"

The other first years and even some of the older students turned to look at the usually quiet boy with evident shock on their faces. Remus was rubbing his temples and continued, "That's enough of your pointless bickering. Have some consideration for others for once."

Sirius ginned and clapped. Remus shot him a death glare. "What?" Sirius asked. "I'm with you. It won't be funny again until they come to physical blows." Remus rolled his eyes, but Sirius caught a slight smile on his face.

Remus went back to his studying, and Sirius watched him with a slight frown. Remus had been sick the day before, and right now, he looked terrible. Actually, Remus looked terrible quite a bit.

Sirius wasn't technically keeping track, but it seemed like the boy disappeared once a month. He had numerous excuses: he was ill, his mother was ill, his very elderly grandfather had taken a tumble down some stairs, his mother's great aunt Mildred was in for the weekend and wanted to see him. The list went on and on. Every time he came back, the kid looked like he went through Hell. Jokingly, Sirius had once asked if he had a monthly visitor. Remus had then paled to a shade of white Sirius had not thought possible for the living.

Ever since early childhood, Sirius had been taught to read people, and, to him, it was very evident that Remus was both nervous and lying when he gave out excuses. Sirius was getting suspicious. What was going on that Remus couldn't tell them?

But Sirius had no real evidence, no proof of anything. He would never confront the other boy until he had it. And so, until then, he would keep his opinions to himself. But that wouldn't stop him from wondering.

The harsh whispered bickering of Lily and James brought Sirius away from his inner thoughts. He rolled his eyes at them and hopped up from the table. He made his way over to the exit, Lily calling after him, "Where are you going?"

"Exploring," Sirius called back just as the portrait of the Fat Lady swung closed behind him. Sirius knew that the prospect of fighting with Lily would keep James in the Common Room, so he would get some alone time. Sirius strongly suspected a bit of a crush on the part of James, but the other boy would never admit it.

Sirius hummed lightly as he strolled through the halls. Looking out on the grounds, he could see many of the older students studying, the fifth and seventh years looking especially stressed. Sirius was glad he wouldn't have to deal with that for another four years.

Sirius wandered for another half hour before beginning to feel slightly out of place. He couldn't be too sure, but he had a feeling that he was somewhere along the third corridor. He stuck his head down in a door and was met with a face full of cobwebs and dust. Coughing and waving his hand, he pulled back. It was likely no one had been down there in a while. He was content to leave it that way for now.

Sirius began to retrace his steps. He soon came upon a statue of a one eyed witch with a hump. Sirius raised a brow at it. Why did sculptures in the wizarding world find it necessary to create such strange and ugly works? Stupid looking hump, he thought and knocked on it with his fist.

The statue shuddered.

Sirius jumped back. What was that? "Hello?" he said. Nothing happened. Sirius blinked at it. He walked around to the back and attempted to push the statue away, but it was too heavy. Taking a step back, Sirius smirked. Where human strength failed, there was always magic. Sirius took his wand from his pocket and tapped the statue. "Open up," he commanded.

Again, nothing happened. "Right," he muttered to himself. "A spell. What's a good one? Er—_Dissendium_" The statue shuddered but didn't move.

"Oh, come on," Sirius said hitting the witch's hump with his wand, "_Dissendium_'s a good one!"

Suddenly the statue jumped, and the hump moved aside. Sirius blinked in surprise and slowly stuck his head inside the hole that was now visible. "_Lumos_." With the wand's light, Sirius could see that the hole was the entrance to a tunnel. Curious as to the tunnel's destination, Sirius entered, the statue closing up behind him.

It was hours later before Sirius returned from Hogsmeade. Grinning like a maniac, Sirius stuffed the last of his toffees into his mouth, and carefully opened the statue of the witch. His ice colored eyes traveled up and down the corridor, and when he was sure no one was coming, Sirius squeezed out of the tunnel. He quickly closed the statue and made his was back to the Tower to tell James.

As he turned a corner, Sirius collided with another student. "Oh, sorry," he said. "I didn't see you—Oh, Severus."

Indeed, it was Severus Snape. Although Sirius didn't like him much, Snape had been one of his so-called playmates for years. "Well, hello, Sirius," the oily boy said. "How nice to see you back in the castle."

Sirius blinked in confusion. No one had seen him leave. What was the other boy talking about? "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"No, you wouldn't," Snape noted. Sirius frowned at him. He had better grades than Snape could dream of. How dare he? Observing his hand, Snape casually said, "I just thought you'd like to hear that the teachers have been looking for you for hours. From what I hear, James Potter didn't even know where you had gone. Professor McGonagall is seething. I can't wait till she finds you."

"What makes you think I did anything wrong," Sirius asked. No one could prove a thing.

Snape stared back at him with a pointed look, as if to say Well, duh! The other boy shook his head. "Sirius," he said, "I've known you since we were babies. When something goes wrong, you are always the root cause. I thought your parents had it bad enough before school, but then you were made a Gryffindor. Could you possibly shame your family more?"

Sirius growled. He heard quite enough of that from his parents; he didn't need it from a greasy boy like Severus Snape. "You have no clue what you're talking about," Sirius snapped. "You don't know what the Sorting Hat said to me. I tried to make it listen, but it put me in Gryffindor. I tried to get McGonagall and Dumbledore to let me try again. The whole school heard that. I never asked to be a Gryffindor. I wanted Slytherin!"

Both boys turned at the sound of something hitting the ground. Sirius's jaw dropped at the sight of James standing barely ten feet away, his eyes wide with shock. The messy haired boy quickly retrieved his dropped wand before turning on his heels and walking briskly down the hall.

"James!" Sirius called after him. The other did not stop. Sirius turned on Snape in a blaze of fury. "Now look what you did!"

"Me," Snape cried indignantly. "You were the one screaming your hate for Gryffindors."

"I never said I hated them," Sirius snapped. He turned and took off down the hall. He stopped at the corner and turned his icy gaze on the Slytherin. "You should watch out, Snape," he said coldly. "I might be the white sheep of my family, but you have just angered a Black. You know the consequences."

Snape did not say anything as Sirius disappeared from view, but he did look slightly nervous.

Sirius caught up with James a few minutes later in the courtyard. "James," he said. "Hey look, what you heard, it—"

James turned and stared coldly at him from under his glasses. "What I heard, Sirius? You don't need to tell me what I heard. My hearing's just fine. You said you never wanted to be a Gryffindor but a Slytherin. A Slytherin!"

"But James—"

"No, Sirius," James interrupted. "Hearing what you said makes me wonder, were you ever really my friend? My grandparents were right. Once a dark wizard, always a dark wizard."

Sirius could only stare. James thought he was a dark wizard? How could he ever think that of him? Sirius's best grades were in Defense Against the Dark Arts. _Against!_

"James, you're wrong," Sirius said quietly. "I don't hate you. You're my friend…my best friend. You're the first friend I ever had. All those Slytherins only talked to me because their parents made them. Yes, at the beginning of the year I wanted Slytherin, but that was only so my parents wouldn't be mad at me."

"So why were you spouting all that off to Snape?" James asked, his voice still a bit harsh.

Sirius dropped down on a bench. "He was talking about how I always shame my family, and how everything bad is always my fault. It just got me mad, and I blew up at him." Sirius looked up at James with eyes begging his forgiveness.

Sirius said, "I really don't want to be a Slytherin anymore. I never want to have anything to do with those people. I hate the Dark Arts and dark wizards, with good reason." Immediately, Sirius's hands flew to his mouth. He shouldn't have said that. He should not have said that. He only hoped James wouldn't question.

"What reason?"

Damn. Well, at least his voice wasn't angry anymore.

Sirius shook his head furiously and refused to move his hands from his mouth. "Sirius?" James asked sitting down by him. "What happened?" He placed a comforting hand on the Black heir's shoulder. Sirius lowered his hands wondering what would happened if he did tell James.

Would the other boy be shocked? Would he try to help Sirius get away from it? Would he do nothing? What if he saw just how pathetic Sirius really was and refused to associate with him anymore?

Sirius couldn't risk it. "Nothing," he choked out. "Don't worry." James gave him a look that clearly said he wasn't buying it. "Really," Sirius pressed. "It's just not any fun living with dark wizards, honest."

James sighed but decided not to press. "Understandable."

The boys were silent for a few minutes before Sirius peeked out from under his bangs and offered the other a sheepish smile. "So, am I forgiven?"

James burst into a string of laughter. He stood and offered the other his hand. "Sure," he said. "Why not?" Sirius took it, and James pulled him off the bench. "Let's go terrorize someone," James said with a grin.

"Yeah," Sirius said taking off for the castle, "and wait till I tell you what I found today on the third corridor!"

I have most of the final chapter written, so hopefully (cross your fingers) it shouldn't take too long to get out. Enjoy. REVIEW!


	6. Chapter 6

**OK ya'll…this is the last chapter. **

**Vindicated16:** Nope, sorry. Sirius doesn't tell anyone. At least not in this story. But lots of people have wanted a sequel, so….

**Black Padfoot:** Oh God, I know how you feel abt that nasty rat. I'd kill him if I could, but I try to stick to cannon as much as possible. But God, I know what you mean. You're another person who wants a sequel.

**Celebrean**:OOOHHH!! Christmas songs! My fav! Yet another sequel request! I feel so happy.

**Brenngt14:** I'm glad you're so excited abt the update. Yeah, this one right here is the last chapter.

**Lil**** Smartass:** Dude, first off: I love you name. I just want you to know that. I love it. Ok, yeah about Peter not really being in it, it's not just that I hate him. There is always a character that I just forget about. Peter's it for MWPP era stuff, and Ron's it for normal era, which is totally weird cause I love Ron. He's just so silly. Yeah but that sequel that I'm putting up has a lot more of him. I'm making a conscious effort of it.

**Hermione21:** yay! You always review. You make me so happy!

Thanks sooooo much for the reviews! They're all great!

**Chapter 6**

Sirius sat with James, Remus, and Peter on the train ride home at the end of the term. Remus was in the middle of scolding the two black haired boys for the letters that were being sent home to their parents.

"Shut it, Remus," James said. "I can't believe McGonagall got so uptight about it. I mean, the hair dye only lasted a few minutes."

"I know," Sirius exclaimed. "And it's not like we made it green and silver. It was red and gold, for Merlin's sake."

"I just can't believe you did it to a teacher," Remus said. "You're getting bold, James."

"Actually it was Sirius who did it, thank you," James corrected. "I just got blamed."

"Hold up," Sirius said with a frown in James's direction. "Who was the one who said, and I quote, 'Sirius, throw the spell at the next person who walks around the corner, teacher or no.'?"

"Well," James defended himself, "I didn't think McGonagall would be the next person. But who cares! My parents are going to ground me!"

Sirius bit his bottom lip. He really didn't want to think of what his parents were going to do. Not only would they be mad about this, but they were sure to remember that he was friends with a Potter.

Mrs. Black looked up from the parchment, her eyes blazing. Through gritted teeth, she asked, "Do you mind explaining to me why you were 'disrespectful' and 'childish' in a meeting with the deputy headmistress?!"

"Umm…"

Flashback

McGonagall sat behind her desk and stared through narrowed eyes at the two raven haired boys before her. Sirius Black and James Potter had just turned her hair a very unprofessional red and gold mixture.

"Explain," she said.

The boys looked at each other and then back at her. "Er—"

"We got bored," Sirius tried.

"So you decided to dye my hair?"

"No, not your hair, Professor," James said.

"Then why is my normally black hair red with flashing gold spots?" McGonagall asked with a raised brow. The boys explained their situation as best they could to their head of house before she sighed heavily and said, "I just can't believe the two of you! I've never seen a more troublesome pair of first years. And I must say, I really expected different from you, Mr. Black, what with your family and all. I have yet to hear even a peep out of your cousin, and—Sirius! What are you doing?"

Sirius had long since toned the deputy headmistress out and was currently leaning his chair to balance on the back two legs with his head facing the ceiling and blowing a stray owl feather about the air above his head.

Sirius looked back at her and the feather landed on his head. "Nothing personal, Professor," he said nonchalantly, "it's just that I've heard this speech a million times, and it doesn't ever sound any different just because it's coming from a new face."

James snickered into his hands, and McGonagall frowned. With a great sigh, she said, "All right then, but that still leave the matter of these." She reached under her desk and pulled out a very large bag full of rolls of parchment. "I've collected these from other teachers. These (she pulled out another slightly larger bag) are the ones addressed strictly to Professor Dumbledore and myself. All are from the two of you."

James and Sirius beamed at her. "Oh, Professor," James chirped. "You kept them!"

"See, James," Sirius nudged his friend. "I told you she loved us."

McGonagall frowned and pushed the bags off her desk. "It is completely unnecessary and redundant for the two of you to send fan mail to your professors!"

Sirius stuck out his bottom lip. "But, Professor," he pouted, "we just want you all to know how much we love and appreciate you." James snickered again.

"Yeah," he said. "We just want you to stay motivated to teach us all these important things for life."

Sirius nodded and said in a mock serious tone, "Yes, it is imperative that we know how to turn our pet snakes into goblets when our washer brushes break."

McGonagall groaned and rubbed her temples with her finger tips. "All right," she snapped, "Considering tomorrow you go home for the summer, I don't have time to give you detentions."

"Sweet," James said with a high pitched voice.

"But," she continued, "I will be sending a letter home to your parents." She stood and ushered them to the door. "And next year, I want the two of you to behave yourselves. I don't want anymore cha-cha lines of dancing armor, love letters, enchanted sock puppets, or—or speech impediment candies—"

"Speech impediment candies?" James asked. "We've never made any speech impediment candies."

"Yet," Sirius finished with an evil gleam in his eyes. Both boys began to rub their hands together and giggle.

McGonagall blinked at them for at least ten seconds. "Hold it," she said as she pushed them out of her office, "Here's a brand new rule that is for only the two of you: If anything ever makes either of you giggle/laugh/chuckle/whatever for more than ten seconds, I want you to assume that you are not to do it. Understand?"

She got no answer other than James and Sirius's retreating giggles.

Flashback ends

Sirius could not help but to laugh at the fresh memory. His laughter was cut short by a swift slap to his face. Not thinking, he cried out. "Weakling!" Mrs. Black screamed and threw him up against the wall. "You worthless little whelp!" She punched his face. "Disgusting! Your behavior this year had been disgusting! First a Gryffindor, then friends with a Potter, and now disrespect to your teachers with childish pranks!"

She threw him to the ground and kicked. "It's the fault of that school! You were never this pathetic until going there. You won't go back. I won't have my family shamed like this!"

"No!" Sirius gasped from the floor. "No, M-mother, pl-please! I-I won't let it happen again." Her shoe collided with his temple, and Sirius was left seeing double.

"I am too disgusted to look at you anymore," she snapped kicking him one last time. "I'll let your father deal with you now."

Sirius held in his groan as she left to fetch Mr. Black.

Shit. What was he going to do now? He had to go back to Hogwarts next year. He had to. He'd die if he stayed in this house. Sirius slowly pushed himself up and leaned back against the bookcase.

His parents had never been this cruel to him before, but then again, Sirius had never acted this way before. True, he was always prone to pull small pranks and be punished, but he had never done anything on the scale of Hogwarts before. And he had never talked to a blood traitor before, let alone become best friends with one.

If his mother was furious, it was nothing compared to how angry his father would be. His mother might be louder, but his father was far stronger. Punishment was always worse when his father was sent for. He had broken many, many more bones than Mrs. Black.

From down the hall, Sirius could hear the heavy footsteps of his father accompanied by the sharp quick sound of his mother's heels. Sirius's heart quickened, and he leaned his head back. He was in for the worst beating of his life, he knew. Mr. Black hated the Potters with a vengeance, even more so than his mother. Mr. Black did not let out his anger in short, loud spurts, like his wife, but allowed it to grow and fester over time.

Sirius was best friends with James.

It was his death warrant, even more so than his being a Gryffindor. They could, over time, over look the fact of his House. They could regard it as a major fluke, and just thing that he would out grow the Gryffindor attitude when he matured. But befriending a Potter, that was of his own free will. All of the Old Families were probably chastising him, and his parents would never allow it to go unpunished.

Sirius held in a groan as the doorknob turned. The door slowly swung open, and the silhouetted figures of his parents stood menacingly in the doorway. Sirius stared up at them as his mother shut the door.

**Ok, that's the end for this one. B/c so many people have wanted one, there's probably gonna be a sequel out really soon. The next thing I put out will be it. So yay!!**


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